July 7, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 1738.6) to bushcamp (mile 1764.6)

Miles: 26.6 (26 PCT miles + .6 miles to Klum Campground and back to the trail)

Total miles walked: 1358.3

We were up and walking by 6 am – Speed time. We walked together for the first 1.7 miles to a water fountain. There was a small hill initially but mostly the trail was flat and the ground soft.

“I’m glad we didn’t do this last night” Speed commented as we huffed and puffed up the trail. We agreed!

We got water, made a few phone calls and continued on. Speed was ahead of us and with our usual start and stop routine, we didn’t see one another until after lunch.

We continued to walk through dry grassy fields and forests. Butterflies danced around us and birds sang. Ah the trail life. It’s quite magical most of the time.

Around 9:45 am we took a 0.3 mile detour to Klum campground. Speed had mentioned several times this morning that he wanted a shower.

When we got to the campground there was one person in the shower, but no sign of Speed.

We had a nice 30 minute shoes off break on a picnic table. Laurie ate her summer sausage (never too early for salty sausage and crackers!) and washed out her socks and underwear. Hot water and soap in the bathroom was a pleasant surprise.

With full bellies and full water bottles we hiked on another 6 miles up a long but gradual hill. We played the alphabet game with categories of countries, companies and sports. Laurie eventually started listening to podcasts as well.

The scenery was pretty but not captivating. The greenery got a little montonous and today was one of the days we needed additional entertainment outside of our own thoughts.

Around 12:30 we found Speed. He was just finishing lunch and we hiked on together. Well initially. No matter how hard we try something always comes up that slows us down and Speed gets away, just as his name suggests.

At the top of the hill we checked for service to check the weather. The sky has more clouds in it today than we have seen in the past week. The forecast predicts rain tomorrow and the following 2 days as well. We have been so lucky with the weather since leaving Belden, hopefully the storm isn’t too bad.

We hiked down the trail, enjoying the soft ground and clear trail. We could tell a trail crew had been through here lately because the wood chips looked fresh and we could smell the freshly cut trunks.

We navigated our way around the 10 or so remaining down trees and made it to the South Brown Mountain Shelter. This is one of the few shelters along the trail. We had toyed with the idea of staying here but it was too early to stop for the day. We took a nice long break, chatted with 2 hikers from Colorado who had just begun their thru hiking adventure.

Around 5 pm we laced up our shoes and walked the remaining 4 miles to camp. We walked together, Speed sharing stories from the AT and keeping us all entertained and distracted from the pain in our feet.

The last 2 miles were on small volcanic rocks. Not the most ideal way to end a 26 mile hiking day.

We got to our campsite location and unsuccessfully spent 10 minutes looking for a different spot that would allow us to be further from the trail.

We ate dinner together and we shared some of our many pre and post dinner snacks. The mosquitoes started to swarm as we were wrapping up so we hurriedly erected the tent and rain fly.

Tomorrow we face the dreaded area with lots of blow downs. We have heard differing reports from southbound hikers and it will be good to see and experience it for ourselves. At least the elevation profile should be gentle.

Tonight we are grateful for cheerful birds and picnic tables.

July 6, 2016

Callahan’s Lodge (mile 1715.2) to bushcamp (mile 1738.6)

Miles: 23.4

Total miles walked: 1332.3

Sleeping in a king size bed felt wonderful. We were able to snuggle and then sleep like starfish without disturbing one another. Someday we hope to have this same luxury in our home. Until then, we will continue to enjoy our cozy tent home and occasional nights in big beds.

Although we were next to the highway the noise didn’t bother any of us, not even with the window open.

Our room was east facing and the rising sun was beautiful. The open blinds let in the bright orange rays of yet another clear Northern California day.

We woke up around 6 am and continued to work on blog posts. We like to get caught up before walking away from reception. It lets you, the readers, stay updated and allows us a clean slate for the next “backpacking trip.”

We consider this whole 6 month adventure a string of shorter backpacking trips. It makes it sound much more feasible, more enjoyable and less overwhelming.

When sorting through our resupply packages the day before we realized we had one too many dinners. Since they were all good, we decided to each eat one for breakfast instead of going to the restaurant downstairs.

So around 7:30 am Andy enjoyed buckwheat with sautéed veggies and a tin of sardines while Laurie wolfed down quinoa with kale and pinto beans.

At 9 am we hoisted our now full and heavy packs and walked away from Callahan’s Lodge. Our mighty trail family of 5 had shrunk to only 3. Cardinal was going home and Fixie was taking a zero.

Speed walked with us back under Interstate 5 and along the old hwy 99 for what felt like forever. The road was a gradual and continuous up. It was one of those roads that don’t look bad but when biking up them your legs burn.

Our legs were burning today just by walking – but not because we were walking fast – our backpacks were too darn heavy!

It was about a mile on asphalt before we noticed the familiar PCT emblem on a signpost.

Ah… Soft dirt! It felt fabulous.

We walked along the roller coaster trail for about 10 miles before stopping for lunch. We walked past Pilot Rock – an outcropping rock with hexagon shaped spires.

The trail meandered between forests and grassy meadows. The scenery was not as dramatic as in the past week but still beautiful. We were surrounded by green and brown rolling hills. The temperature was pleasant and the sun was out.

Unfortunately Laurie wasn’t feeling good. Today was the first day of her period and she felt sluggish. Her backpack was heavy with 5 days of food synched tightly around her already bloated waist and hips. The first few miles and hours rolled by slowly.

At lunch Andy offered to carry Laurie’s food bag. She reluctantly took him up on the offer, feeling guilty for not carrying her own stuff.

“We are a team” he kept reminding her.

“Okay, okay… But if you feel one ounce of pain let me know and I will take it back.”

The exchange was made and off we went. Laurie felt more comfortable and Andy felt good knowing he was helping.

The afternoon was uneventful. We got water from a beautiful spring that had water flowing from 3 parts of a pipe.

Again we walked up and down small hills and in and out of the sun and shade. Andy’s new blue shoes acted as a rock magnet as he tripped his way through the miles.

He had a small temper tantrum after tripping over one too many rocks. The extra weight of his pack propelled him forward and with every trip came an even harder landing.

Luckily he was never injured, just frustrated. After tossing his hiking poles 20 feet ahead of him and kicking one of them when we reached it, he felt better and continued on.

At mile 1731.3 we passed our personal halfway mark. There was no sign post of course but we did our own little celebration. It was a toned down version of a celebration as Laurie wasn’t feeling so hot and we just wanted to reach camp.

At 7:15 we came to one of our proposed campsites. Speed was asleep under a tree. He had eaten and was resting, waiting to hear our thoughts on continuing or making home for the evening.

It didn’t take long for us to decide to stay. We had hiked plenty, particularly with a 9 am start.

We ate a yummy dinner, polished off a bag of 18 Rabbits granola and made a plan for the next day.

Ideally we have 1 more day of easy walking before the snow and blow downs… We will see though, each person we talk to has a slightly different trail report.

For now we hope to go to sleep soon to the noise of the waterfall less than a tenth of a mile away.

Tonight we are grateful for injury free tripping and supportive partners.

July 5, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 1700.1) to the Callahan’s Lodge (mile 1715.2)

Miles: 15.8 (15.1 PCT miles plus .7 mile side trail to the Callahan’s)

As a request from one of our readers we are adding our total miles walked to each post.

Total mileage walked: 1309.6

Sometimes it is easiest to wake up the morning of a town day. Large breakfasts or the appeal of fresh fruit call our names. This morning however, the coziness of our sleeping bags won the battle.

We braved the cool air and started walking around 6:30 am. We enjoyed the uphill as a way to warm up. So far the weather in Oregon has provided a nice change from the oppressive heat of Northern California. We hope it continues but without rain.

The trail paralleled dirt roads for a few miles. We walked amongst corn lilies in meadows and admired all the flowers. It feels really special to be here at this time of year – the skies are smoke free, temperatures refreshing and the colors of the flowers are vibrant.

At the top of our climb we found 2 lawn chairs and coolers on the trail.

More trail magic!!

It didn’t matter that it was only 8:30 am, we sat down and enjoyed a soda. There is something delicious and incredibly special about finding random sodas in unexpected places. Thank you to whoever maintains this cache.

So far Oregon has been pretty amazing. We have had trail magic 2 days in a row!!

From here it was a long 10.5 mile descent to Interstate 5 and the Callahan’s Lodge. We took our time, winding through open fields and shady wooded areas.

We passed many day hikers out enjoying the flowers and nice weather.

Eventually we came to the Callahan cutoff. Initially Laurie walked right past the sign since, in true Laurie fashion, she was staring at the ground. To her credit, the sign is located much higher than most signs and everyone else in the group missed it initially as well. Everyone except Andy, he looks up a lot.

We followed the narrow path straight down through the forest. The steepness of the trail helped us appreciate the gradual grade of the PCT. We walked past a sketchy railroad yard and down a few dirt roads to the I-5. We crossed under the freeway and finally made it through the double doors of the lodge at 1:30 pm.

Fixie and Cardinal arrived a little before us. Speed, who seems to always arrive at our destination at least an hour ahead of us, had already enjoyed lunch and inquired about room rates.

We discussed our lodging options and opted to share a penthouse suite. We added two rollaways to our room with a king size bed. The jacuzzi tub turned into a great foot and long underwear washing station!

We sat on the patio while waiting for our room to be ready. We sorted through our resupply boxes and organized our backpacks.

Fixie’s partner arrived around 2:30 pm with gluten free and vegan banana bread. Town magic!! We devoured it within 10 minutes. Thanks Steven!

Around 3:30 our room was ready. We showered and piled into the car for a field trip to Ashland.

We got fuel at the outfitter, Andy bought new shoes at the local running store and we all ate dinner at the Ashland Food Co-op. The store was amazing and also a bit overwhelming.

We wanted everything we saw. The highlight of the dinner was the sautéed kale, a normal staple in our diet.

We were still hungry after dessert (coconut ice cream, peach and nectarine) so we ordered a burrito bowl. We are not sure if we should be amazed or frightened by how much we are eating these days.

Once back at the hotel we tried to catch up on blogging before falling asleep.

We love neros. We get the luxury of fresh food, a clean body and clean clothes after an active morning. But we don’t break the bank because we only eat lunch or dinner once.

Tomorrow we start our 5 day trek to Crater Lake. Neither of us have been there and are really looking forward to seeing it.

And we really don’t know what to expect from the trail. We keep hearing mixed things. Will there be lots of snow? Blowdowns? Mosquito clouds so thick one can’t see their feet?

We will find out!

Tonight we are grateful for food co-ops and comfy beds.